The Stories We Leave Behind

My dad was a great storyteller. He had a fantastic memory especially for dates and places and could recall who was at an event and what happened. Often times we would be going through his photos and he would say:

"Oh yeah, that was taken in 1971 at the back of Jacks place, New Years Eve. We worked that day, but finished early to make preparations for the party that night. We would do the rounds you know. Go from one persons house to the next, we all lived close together in those days."

If I asked questions he was always happy to share the stories within the story.

Technology wasnt as accessible as it is now and the idea of recording some of these stories didnt occur to us at the time. But I was lucky that dad was also a prolific journal writer and kept journals from the time he was eighteen years old to his late 70's and before dementia took away his ability to recall the past. So now eight years after his passing, I sit for an hour a day catergorizing his photographs (he was also a photographer) and reading his thoughts from the page.

I'm grateful for his desire to capture his days and his thoughts through his writing. It allows me and generations to come to get to know him and his life through his own words.

My dad on the right, with his older brother

When I read his thoughts I see him sometimes not as my dad but as a young man, trying to navigate life. Other times as a middle aged man working hard to provide for a family and the tender moments of being a father. It really is priceless.

Capturing our human stories can come in many forms, written journals, artwork, interviews audio and visual and even through song. It doesnt really matter. What matters most is that they are not lost but preserved, so they can be shared. A shared story in my opinion carries with it not only memories but wisdom and life lessons.

So no matter what medium we choose to tell our stories, really, the most important thing, is that they're told.